Modeling appliance



Mann, 1923. 1,449,519

. 5. TV LAYTON MODELING APPLIAfioE Filed Mar. 14, 1921 2 sheets-sheet 1 Mar. 27, 1923. s. T. LAYTON MODELING APPLIANCE Filed Mar. 14, 1921 2 sheetssheet 2 H l l l l i N HI l mwmamm II I ll ll-iirlllilil'llliii Patented 27, 11%23.

tensile MGDELING APPLIANCE.

application filed. March 1d, 1921. Serial No. $519533.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SHIRLEY THoMrsors LAYTON, of the city of Winnipeg, in the Province of Manitoba, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Modeling Appliances, of which the following is the specification.

The invention relates to improvements in model appliances especially designed for quickly and accurately setting up partial scale models of proposed buildings, thereby visualizing to scale the proposed building so that one unfamiliar with drawings can obtain a clear conception of their plan and thereby better satisfy themselves of their desires.

A further object is to design the apparati so that a wide range of construction is possible with a minimum number of parts and so that the operator can work quickly in erecting and can easily select and move the various parts into position and as easily knock down and store the loose parts.

With the above more important and other minor objects in view, which will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter more particularly described and later pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawin s in which f ig. l is a erspective view to scale of part 0 a my modeling appliance.

Fig. 2 is a side view showing a number of ste pieces put together to form a stairway.

ig. 3 is a plan view of the step piecesshown in Fig. 2. v

Fig. 4 is a front view of one of the door frame pieces, parts being broken away to ex ose construction.

ig. 5 is a vertical sectional view centrally through the door frame piece.

Fig. 6 is a front view of one of the window frame pieces, parts being broken away to expose construction. I

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view centrally through the window frame piece Fig. 8 is an enlarged detailed vertical sectional view through the joint formed be ropose building constructed byusing,

tween one of the partition pieces and the base or floor board.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the joint formed between another of the partition pieces and the base or fioorboard.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the joint formed between one of the wall pieces and the base or floor board. 7

Fig. 11 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through a part of the base or floor board.

In the drawings. like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

It is a well known fact among architects, real estate agents and such like rsons that considerable difiiculty is experienced with clients in giving them a clear conception of a proposed building structure especially where drawings embodying floor plans, sections etc. are relied upon, all of which in, the greater number of cases are not understood. My invention is provided to visualize to scale, a proposed building, thereby giving the client a clear idea of the general arrangement and allowing him an easy way of varying the structure to suit his taste wthout initially requiring the producing of expensive drawings.

Thedevice is now described in detail, a selected building being shown built in Fig. 1 of the drawings, to which I now refer.

- The proposed building is erected on a floor .xlor base board 1 of predetermined dimension,

its size being such that it will accommodate .the building thereon to scale of varying sized structures. The top face of the base board is transverselv and longitudinally slotted or cut to provide spaced cross slots 2 and 3 running from side to side and end to end. The slots are all equi-spaced so that the face of the board presents a multitude of squares 4 bounded by the slots. 1 have found it desirable in building to scale to place the slot centres iinch apart, such distances actually representing in the completed structure six inches, that is to say a scale of one inchztwo feet.

I have found it desirable in actual pracas was; cassette am. so that the' dietance of one foot to. scale can be ,qn'iclrl- '.'-determined. In Fig. 1 it will *be seen 1'. at certain of the squares have been cross hatched? inlen hwise and transversely extending'irows' hese squareswould be colored, 58/ black, and the rest would be left nature color. Theeifect so clearly shown in Fig." 1 that in her description is considered unnecessary.

With theehoard I supplyqia varying num- -'ber of wall pistes- 5;. 'artition pieces 6, window framepieees 7, oor frame pieces '8 and step pieces a j- The wall and partition pieces are preferably all-of the same height, the desirable -heigh'tto scale representing two feet,

six inches,'which distance-is the customary height ofthe, wall to the window sill. The wall pieces are preferably three-eighths of an inch" thick whilstthe pprtition pieces are one-quarter of an-inch t ick, these dimensions being relatively correct in ,a scale model. The doorframe pieces and the window frame pieces are formed so that they f'elpresent to the selected scale the customary 1 size door and1-window frames. The steppieces are also so that they not only give .a good impression of a step but also .indicate in'the model to theselected scale the customary ful-lisiz d 'steps'in a stairway. In

connection the'stalr pieces, I may state that I supply various, shapes off; step pieces 7 so thatf direct'or straight sta'irways or' indi so that any or turning. stairwaysean beset up. Asbeforeiintimated a numberpf wall par-v titiQD'; door; window frame and step p es are rmies. t wa d partition pieces varying "in jlength, .but being regular H p v uil'd'ing plan-can be. erected by selecting proper length wall and artition'ipieces and with. due-regard to the bore and windows which are to appear.

'In-prder te retain the wall and partitionv pieces'f in an-upstanding position on the base hoard andfone. on top of' the other I havero'vided them all on their undersides with ownwardly extending longitudinal station'- 7 ary' tongues '10 and at the top with cornplepieces" menta'ry longitudinally extending grooves '11.. 'lhe ton as are all arranged to make a neat butslidmg fitin the slots of the board f'the grooves of. the' wa l l ortpartition A u ber of partitioiipieces are supplied a with tongues positioned in different loca-- lllOIlS. Special pieces. are used as the base 7 pieces.,.ef the partitions of the proposed." bmldingor those which sit directly on the put to -theside. arrangement allows hoard. In Figure 8 thetongueis; shown as centrally positioned and in Figure!) it is 'l me-a variationof-onef-eighth or-an inch in onequarter of v an inch.-- -n building,

--seaing the partitions ns it willbe remembored the width of the artition pieces is ever, this distance to'scale represents three inches so that the model when completed is within three inches of accurate measurement.

' The tongues of the wall pieces are all set to the side of centre (see Figure 10) the distance actually being, to scale, one-quarter inch from one side and one-eighth inch from the other. This arrangement also gives a.

variation of one-quarter inch in the placing of the wall pieces as by reversing them one varies the position of the wallon the board one-quarter inch which to scale represents three inches.

The window frame pieces 7 provide rec- By referring to Figure 1 of the drawings,

it Will be seen that the window frame pieces may vary in width and that they are placed in the wall as it is being erected and that the sill of the window frame lies directly on the lower row of wall strips which brings it at a proper height as the said wall strips I represent to scale a distance of two feet, six inches which is the customary height of a window sill from the floor.

In Figure 1 the walls have been carried to a height of three strips which indicates a distance of seven feet, six inches. If it is desired to carry the wall higher it will be observed in Figures 6 and 7 that the tongues of the'frame iece.

Thedoor ame pieces8 are constructed also to scale and are supplied with a'cirof the strip overlying the window is pro vided for as itenters the channel at the top cumscribing channel 14 corresponding to.

and for the same purpose as the window frame channel 13. Accommodation is alsov made here for building above the door frame piece if desired, the tongue being accommodated in the channel at the top of the door frame piece (see Figures 4 and 5).. The step pieces vary in shapeso that a straight or direct stairway can be set up by utilizing wholly what might called straight steps. or an indirect stairway having a turn therein can be settherein 'by-Insingthe straightl. steps 9 and a number o'f what mightbe termed corner steps9'. I 'A-nurn';

her of 5? straight nd ,mcorner stepsof *va rying height arep ovided so thatfwhen they are selefiivelylotoughttogethenia'flight-sof' the customary full step riser distance; 11;

stairs. can he huilt with a constant riser dis" tame, the distance representing also to scale will he observed that'each step piececomprises a 'block like bodymember 17 :jwhichris capped "at the top with atreadyme'ihberl. 1 8, howthe tread member-overhanging at both 13o ea ers between adjacent step pieces is a neat sliding fit. @bviously by modifying the shape of the angular step pieces any type of staircase can be represented in the complete model.

a in Figure 1, lhave shown a modified form of window arrangement which can be used where one does not desire to use the window framepieces. By supplying a transparent 4 determined size, one can select and insert a pane in the wall as and where required, the. lower edge of the pane being received within the groove of the underlying wall piece.

I do not consider it necessary to elaborate on the actual building of a model from a selected number of pieces as this is-clearly set out in Figure 1 of the drawings and assuming that the slot centres on the base, are as hereinbefore stated one-quarter of an inch apart, then the model erected represents accurately to scale the proposed building and gives the observer an accurate representation of his structure. Obviously when one has an outline of the complete requirements he can quickly erect the model structure and can readily move the pieces to vary the model to suit the taste of the client.

I have purposely shown a somewhat irregular arrangement of the parts in order to bring out clearly how easily the device adapts itself to the work.

Whilst I have stated a certain scale, it will be readily understood that this can be changed without departing from the spirit of the invention. Once, however, the centres of the slots in the base piece have been established the various other buildin' pieces will be made with due regard to t e same and following the lines hereinbefore outlined. Whilst I have described this device as particularly valuable to architects, real estate agents and such like' persons, still I wish it to be understood that the invention could be marketed as a toy for children as it wouldbe not only interesting to them to erect buildings accordingto their whims but also it would have a beneficial educative value. Obviously by continuing building the walls and partitions to their full height 'senting circumscribin and by providing peak pieces, an upstairs floors and a miniature roof structure a complete building could be made by the child.

W' hat I claim as my invention is 1. An appliance for modeling miniature buildings comprising a floor board having the upper face thereof provided with equispaced slots intersecting at right angles, a plurality of equi-height wall and partition pieces and of varying length, tongues extending from the lower sides of all the pieces and having varying positions on the said pieces and grooves complementary to the tongues formed in the upper sides thereof, the said tengues beingadaptedto slidably enter the slots in the floor board and a plurality of door and window pieces for insertion in the structure, said door and window pieces being provided with exposed channels adapted to receive the wall and partition pieces and ofa depth SUillClfiIlt to admit the tongues thereof.

2. In a building modeling appliance, a staircase formed from a plurality of similar stair sections of varying height and constant length and thickness and provided each with a tread member capping and overhanging the top of the section and on the front side with a cross groove, the cross oove of one section being adapted to slidilbly receive the overhanging edge of the tread of the adjacent section to releasably connect adja-' cent step sections together.

3. In the building modeling appliance, step sections of predetermined length, width and thickness, each step section being capped at the top end by a tread member having the edges overhanging and being provided with a cross groove complementary to the overhanging edge of the tread member and positioned below the tread member a distance correspondin to the riser of the step.

4:. A buil ing modeling appliance comprising a base having the upper surface thereof provided with intersecting slots, wall er end with a tongue adapted to enter a slot in the baseand at its upper end with a.

window pieces adapted for insertion between adjacent wall or partition pieces and channels adapts to accomodate edges of t c said pieces therein and a plurality ofLstep sections adapted to be removably mount (1 on the base and having and partition pieces each provided at its lowinterlocking engagement with one another whereby vertical displacement of individual sections is prevented. igned at Winnepeg, this 1st day of March 1921.-

SHIRLEY THOMPSON LAYTON. In the presence of:

GERALD S. BoxnURcH, K. B; WAKEFIELD.

etc 

